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12.07.2007

Garden Bloggers: Old & Young

Kathy at Cold Climate Gardening asked Why Don't More Older Gardeners Blog ? It seems to have sparked a lot of discussion, along with the question where are the under 30 gardeners? Being under 30 myself, (I'll be 21 in a couple weeks) I started running through my list of friends and trying to recall if any of them enjoyed gardening. What I came up with was that the friends who go to college don't have time for gardening, while the ones who don't go to college tend to have more interest in and time for gardening. It doesn't seem to make much difference if their parents are gardeners - it appears to be more of an individual thing.

As long as I'm blogging about young gardeners, I figure I might as well share my journey to becoming a garden blogger. Up until my family moved in January 2005, I didn't do a lot of gardening. I did have two little beds though; one was a perennial/annual, and the other focused more on herbs.

After we moved, I still didn't have much interest in gardening - I kind of wanted my own flower bed, but in my opinion (at the time) all the good spots had been taken by my Mother and Sister. You'll be glad to know my opinion has since been revised. I did tend to a couple of tomato plants and some garlic from the old house. The tomatoes were a success, but the garlic was too old. That fall, my Grandma offered us some plants, and I asked for a few figuring now I would have to have my own space. That was how the perennial garden got started. I planted a bunch of pinks, and the few bulbs I brought with from the old house.Also that fall, we got an note in our newspaper box from 'The Plant Lady' who was having her annual sale. We went, and I got Valerian, Yarrow, Bee Balm, and some seeds from her. Next I needed a garden space. I chose the area under the tree, and my Dad helped (ok, he did most of the work) me dig up the area.

The next July (2006) I finally decided to keep a garden journal. I don't really remember why, but I'm thinking it had something to do with needing an excuse to buy a really cool Cars notebook. The notebook was a good idea, because that year my seed collecting hobby took off full swing. If it had seeds, I gathered 'em. My experience up to that point had been limited to garlic, Cosmos, Calendula, Cleome and Salvia. As a result, I grew the same plants over and over since I knew I could get seeds from them. The previous year I had grown and saved seeds from an heirloom tomato; that was how I got started growing and saving tomato seeds.

By Spring of 2007, I had picked up Patricia Lanza's Lasagna Gardening Books at the library and the veggie garden we'd been talking about became a reality. In April I started this blog with hopes of eventually connecting with other gardeners. I now enjoy reading many many many gardening blogs, and interacting through comments.

2 comments:

Interesting post. I'm old enough to be your grandmother, and I just love to blog. I've been doing it for four years, and have several blogs--one public (my garden blog) and three private. I had to learn to use the computer for work--even program--back in the late 1980s, so the technology issue wasn't there for me. I think that's the reason many older folks don't blog, or program their own electronic devices. Just not exposed to it. However, I read that is changing rapidly. Aiyana

I've discovered that most of the blogs I enjoy are written by people old enough to be my grandparents. Interestingly, my Grandparents on my Mom's side are computer savvy, but see no point in having a blog. My Dad's parents are a generation older, and have no computer skills at all. I also think their occupations may account for some of the difference: Mom's Dad worked for Kodak, and was exposed to the technology; Dad's parents worked a farm and had no use for a computer. Thanks for your comment and the food for thought!~Sarah